Jack's Electric Bicycle

'That's cheating!'

When you show someone an electric bike, there’s a good chance you’ll hear the phrase “That’s cheating!”

I’ve heard this at least a dozen times since I got my e-bike. The comment is always made in a good-natured manner, so there’s never a need to argue about it. Besides, in some ways it’s a compliment – an acknowledgement that the motor is advantageous.

Still, I find the comment curious. How is it cheating?

If I were to enter the e-bike into a short bicycle race and I was the only one with a motor, then that would be cheating. It would be similar to entering a canoe into paddling contest in which you’re the only one with an outboard motor.

In both these scenarios, you would have a distinct advantage over the competition which wouldn’t be fair. You would likely be breaking the rules, which constitutes cheating.

But when I use my e-bike, I’m not competing. I’m just traveling – trying to get from Point A to Point B. I just want to do so in the most sensible and efficient manner possible.

I can walk, ride a regular bike, ride the e-bike or use my automobile. I've even been known to fly, although I usually need to assistance of an aircraft.

Perhaps the notion that using an e-bike is cheating comes from the view that a bicycle is an exercise machine. If it were simply an exercise machine, then the cheating allegation would have some truth to it. It would be like bench pressing weights with the help of a fork lift.

But the e-bike isn’t an exercise machine. It’s a mode of transportation.

As a bonus, it’s a mode of transportation that provides me with some exercise – perhaps 30 percent less exercise than I would get on a regular bike. But when I use a regular bike, I don’t get as much exercise as I would if I walked. And when I’m walking, I don’t get as much exercise as I would if I jogged.

So does that make walking a form of cheating, or bicycling a form of cheating compared to walking?

Of course not.

Using an e-bike is no more cheating than it is for a chef to use a food processor to chop onions. (Some might consider that cheating. Heck, I read about a school of photography in which you’re only allowed to shoot using natural light. No flashes or special lighting allowed. I also read about a guy who jogs backwards. For him, running forward might be considered cheating.)

Personally, I’ve begun to view “cheating” as using my automobile for trips that could reasonably be completed on one of my bicycles (regular or electric.)

For example, today I could have been accused cheating. Due to the Columbus Day holiday and a variety of other circumstances, I was unable on Monday to do my business-related chores in Arcata, which is far enough away that I use my automobile. So this morning I loaded up the car and drove to Arcata.

Then I came back to McKinleyville and used the vehicle for a route usually reserved for my e-bike.

I used a 2,500-pound, fossil fuel-burning hunk of metal to conduct business I could have completed on a non-polluting bicycle.

Now that’s cheating!

posted by Jack Durham @ 9:07 PM